One of the many joys of the Christmas season is decorating the Christmas tree with strings of lights and brightly colored tinsel to capture the holiday spirit and in essence become the festive centerpiece to share when entertaining friends and loved ones. If you are like many families in Georgia, you may leave your Christmas tree up until the New Year before sending it off to the landfill for disposal. This year, consider trying something different. You may be surprised at the innovative ways that your tree can be repurposed and recycled to bring joy to the marine life and zoo animals in your local area.
Recycle Your Christmas Tree for Your Friends at the Zoo
Zoo animals love real Christmas trees! They eat them, roll around on them, tear them up and play with them, providing hours of fun for both the animals and the families coming to visit them. Noah’s Ark Animal Habitat will be taking in recycled trees after Christmas and using them as toys to entertain their zoo animals. Contact www.noahs-ark.org/ for drop-off times, locations and visiting hours. For the health of the animals, some important things to remember before bringing in your tree to Noah’s Ark include:
• live natural trees only please; that have not been treated with sprays or chemicals
• plain trees only that do not contain decorations or tinsel
• Unfortunately no artificial trees can be accepted
• Green trees only please. No brown, decaying or old trees can be accepted as these prove hazardous to the animals.
Protect & Preserve Marine Life by Recycling Your Christmas Tree into a Fish Attractor!
Fish love to hide and it turns out that your Christmas tree makes the perfect eco-friendly fish hide out. The Army Corp of Engineers oversees both Lake Lanier and Lake Alatoona, and offers free permits to put a ‘fish attractor’ in the lake. The Corps will review a set of guidelines including a map to show the location where the tree will be dropped along with information regarding placement and depth to ensure that the objects do not become hazardous to boaters should the lake recede during the year. The most common items used as fish attractors include trees, bamboo and pallets. According to the experts at the Army Corp of Engineers, the lifespan of a Christmas tree as a fish attractor is about five years. For individuals applying for a fish attractor permit, come prepared to use a little elbow grease as you are required to install the fish attractor yourself!
Keep Georgia Beautiful by Recycling Your Christmas Tree as Mulch in McDonough, Jackson, Jonesboro, Fayetteville & Hampton as well as Fayette, Clayton & Henry Counties in Central GA
The friendly professionals at Milam’s Tree Service provide a Christmas tree recycling program to turn your discarded tree into fragrant mulch. Mulch from prior years has been used for both residential and commercial land including playgrounds and local government projects. You can support Milam’s chipper program by bringing your Christmas tree by our tree lot in McDonough, Georgia. For information regarding Milam’s Christmas tree recycling program, contact the knowledgeable professionals at Milam’s Tree Service.